Verizon has confirmed to CNet that it plans to release two new Motorola tablets this month. Dubbed the Xoom 2 in international markets, the tablets — one 10-inch version, and one 8-inch model — will each be renamed “Droid Xyboard,” the Droid brand being Verizon’s high-end line of mobile devices.
The Droid Xyboard tablets will connect to Verizon’s 4G LTE network, the fastest wireless connection in the US, at the moment. Besides that, the company has remained mum on most details, like pricing and an exact launch date, though it’s rumored that the devices will launch next week, on December 8.
“As we’ve previously mentioned, we’re planning to bring several new LTE devices to market including two tablets,” said Verizon in a statement. “We haven’t made any official announcements in the U.S. but we look forward to sharing more details soon.”
We do know that the devices are both thinner and lighter than the original Xoom, which any owner knows is a bit cumbersome due to its hefty weight. Both tablets also pack a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, as well as a 5-megapixel rear camera, and a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera for video chats — neither of which are likely to impress, as Motorola generally has some of the worst cameras available in mobile devices. One area to get excited about, however, may be its new sound system, which sports 2.1 virtual surround sound and a subwoofer.
The tablets will run Google’s tablet-centric Android Honeycomb operating system.
The tablet market, while still firmly dominated by Apple’s iPad line, has begun to see a rise in popularity of other brands’ tablets. Most of those, like Amazon’s Kindle Fire, are low-end devices, that cost far less than an iPad 2. Verizon’s current LTE Xoom offering costs $499, with the signing of a new two-year contract.
Update 12-5-2011 Jeffrey Van Camp: Today, Verizon officially included these two tablets in a press release, confirming that they are bound for December. No additional information is yet known.
(Image via CNet)
